Owing to the general aridity of the region, a
very large portion of the total area consists of endoreic or
inland drainage. The Jordan River, the third largest perennial
river in the Middle East, receives most of its discharge from
precipitation on the southern part of the Anti-Lebanon range.

The Jordan is a multinational river, flowing
southwards for a total length of 228 km through Lebanon, Syria,
Israel, and Jordan (figs. 2.28 and 2.29). It is already
overdeveloped except for a winter flow in its largest tributary
the Yarmouk River, which forms the present boundary between Syria
and Jordan for 40 km before becoming the border between Israel
and Jordan.

In the absence of irrigation extraction, the
Jordan system delivers an average annual flow of 1.85 x 109
m³ to the Dead Sea, equivalent to 2% of the annual flow of the
Nile and 7% of the annual flow of the Euphrates. Twenty-three per
cent of this discharge originates in pre 1967 Israel (Naff and
Matson 1984).

The discharge that feeds into the upper part of
the Jordan River is derived principally from groundwater flow
through a group of karstic springs on the western and southern
slopes of Mount Hermon (Jabel esh-Sheikh). There are three rivers
in the headwaters of the north fork of the Jordan River: the Dan
River, the Hasbani River, and the Banias River, of which the
quality of water is excellent, with salinity less than 15-20 mg
of chlorine per litre. The flow in the lower reaches of the
system is supplemented by springs, but much of their contribution
is so saline that they degrade the quality of the river flow, to
the extent of several thousand parts per million of total
dissolved solids at the Allenby Bridge near Jericho.

Few regions of the planet offer a more varied
physiography or a richer mix of ethnicities, religions,
languages, societies, cultures, and politics than the Middle
East. At the same time, no segment of the globe presents its
diverse aspects in such an amalgam of conflicts and complexities.
Out of this compound, one issue emerges as the most conspicuous,
cross-cutting, and problematic: water. Its scarcity and rapid
diminution happen to occur in some of the driest sectors of an
area where there are also some of the fiercest national
animosities. River waters in the Middle East are thus a
conflict-laden determinant of both the domestic and external
policies of the region's principal actors. Equally, though, they
could be a catalyst for lasting peace.

As water shortages occur and full utilization
is reached, water policies tend to be framed more and more in
zero-sum terms, adding to the probability of discord. The
severity of Middle Eastern water problems will, unavoidably,
increase significantly year by year. In an already over-heated
atmosphere of political hostility, insufficient water to satisfy
burgeoning human, developmental, and security needs among all
nations of the Middle East heightens the ambient tensions. By the
end of the 1990s, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank will have
depleted virtually all of their renewable sources of fresh water
if current patterns of consumption are not quickly and radically
altered. In these circumstances, the Jordan River system, which
includes the Al-Wuheda dam scheme on the Yarmouk River,
unquestionably holds the greatest potential for conflict.

Despite the endless political complications in
the Middle East, there is a recent history of tacit, although
limited, cooperation over multinational river development even
among the bitterest opponents. Israel, before its invasion of
Lebanon and its troublesome stand on clearing out obstructions to
the intake of Jordan's East Ghor canal, had more or less agreed
informally to share the Jordan River system within the framework
of the 1955 Johnston Plan.

The largest water-resource development project
in Israel has been the National Water Carrier, which is a huge
aqueduct and pipeline network carrying water from the Jordan
southwards along the coastal region. The water is pumped from the
En-Sheva intake in the northwest of Lake Tiberias at an elevation
of 210 m below sea level to a height from which it flows by
gravity to a reservoir at Rasalom. The installed capacity of the
En-Sheva pumping station was 360 million m³ per year in 1968,
and it could conceivably be increased to a maximum level of 500
million m³ per year, which is 90% of the Jordan's inflow of 544
million m³ per year at the inlet to Lake Tiberias (Beaumont et
al. 1988). Such cutting of fresh-water flows in the upper Jordan
River would, however, have seriously adverse effects on the
quality of Lake Tiberias and its lower reaches by increasing
salinity. The Mediterranean-Dead Sea canal and pumped-storage
schemes in Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea, described in chapter
5, are the key techno-political alternatives.

Israel currently uses as much as 90% or more of
the stream water from the upper Jordan River. Jordan's water
problems have undoubtedly been exacerbated by Israel's actions to
deny it the right to develop fully the water resources of the
Jordan River within its borders. The problem is particularly
acute over the postponement of construction of the Al-Wuheda dam
on the Yarmouk River. The upper Jordan has already been developed
to a maximum capacity. The Al-Wuheda dam would complete
development of the Yarmouk.

There have been several changes in the
Israel-Arab situation since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
From integrated hydrological studies on the Jordan River system,
it is now possible to conceive a comprehensive development plan
that will be not only technically and economically feasible but
also politically desirable and urgent. The Mediterranean-Dead Sea
conduit scheme and the Al-Wuheda dam project could now be
discussed simultaneously without threatening new political
conflicts but rather to promote peace and economic development
for the Palestinians. Discussion can now be based on a sense of
the water cycle, in the context of hydrology, energy, and
politics.

The following section describes the hydrology
and water resources of the Jordan River system. Discussion of
opportunities for integrated planning for comprehensive
water-resource development is given in chapter 5.

2.5.1 The river basin

The catchment of the Jordan River, excluding
its upper basin, is an integral part of the arid to semi-arid
region (see fig. 2.28). There is a marked spatial variation in
the distribution of precipitation over the catchment since the
recharge area is confined to the mountainous areas of the
Anti-Lebanon range, where the mean annual precipitation amounts
to 1,400 mm, and the climate in the lower reaches of the Jordan
in the Rift valley is arid to hyper-arid, with an annual mean
precipitation of less than 50-200 mm.

The Jordan originates in the south-western
Anti-Lebanon range, on the slopes of Mount Herman, which is
covered with snow in winter. It then flows through Lebanon,
Syria, Israel, and Jordan for a total distance of 228 km along
the bottom of a longitudinal graben known as the Rift valley, or
Ghor, before emptying into the Dead Sea. Its principal tributary,
the Yarmouk, forms the border between Syria and Jordan and
divides Israel from Jordan in the Yarmouk triangle. The lower
reaches of the Jordan River border on part of the Israelioccupied
West Bank to the west and Jordan to the east for a distance of
about 80 km.

The catchment area of the Jordan is 18,300 km²
in total, of which 3% lies in pre-1967 Israel. The lower Jordan
River between Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea has a catchment area
of 1,050 km².

The Jordan River system may be classified on
the basis of hydrology, hydrogeology, and water use into three
sections: (1) the upper Jordan-headwaters, the Huleh valley, and
Lake Tiberias; (2) the Yarmouk River; and (3) the lower
Jordan-the main stream and the Dead Sea.

2.5.2 The upper Jordan

The upper Jordan River system includes (1) the
three major headwater streams, the Dan, Hasbani, and Banias, (2)
the Huleh valley, and (3) Lake Tiberias, or the Sea of Galilee
(see fig. 2.29).

THE DAN RIVER. The largest of the springs is
the Dan spring, which rises from Jurassic carbonate rocks and
supplies a large and relatively steady flow that responds only
slowly to rainfall events. The average discharge of the spring is
245 million m³ per year, varying from 173 million to 285 million
m³. The Dan typically accounts for 50% of the discharge of the
upper Jordan.

THE HASBAN RIVER. The Hasbani River derives
most of its discharge from two springs, the Wazzani and the
Haqzbieh, the latter being a group of springs on the uppermost
Hasbani. All of these springs rise from subsurface conduits in
cavernous Cretaceous carbonate rocks. Their combined discharge
averages 138 million m³ per year but the values vary over a
greater range than those of the Dan spring; over a recent
twenty-year period, the flow of the Hasbani varied from 52
million to 236 million m³ per year. The Hasbani discharge
responds much more rapidly to rainfall than does that of the Dan
spring.

THE BANIAS RIVER. The Banias River is fed
primarily from Hermon springs that issue from the contact of
Quaternary sediments over Jurassic limestone in the extreme
north-east of the Jordan valley. The average discharge of the
Hermon springs is 121 million m³ per year; during a recent
twenty-year period it varied from 63 million to 190 million m³.

The Dan spring, the largest of the sources of
the upper Jordan, lies wholly within Israel close to the border
with Syria. The spring sources of the Hasbani River lie entirely
within Lebanon. The spring source of the Banias River is in
Syria. These three small streams unite 6 km inside Israel at
about 70 m above sea level to form the upper Jordan River.

Together the springs provide more water than
can be accounted for as a result of rainfall over their immediate
watersheds; thus, it is surmised that they represent the outflow
of a large regional aquifer. The combined outflow of the springs
and the precipitation that falls on the surface watershed of the
upper Jordan is of the order of 500 million m³ per year. In a
typical year, these karstic springs provide 50% of the discharge
of the upper Jordan River; the rest is derived from surface
run-off directly after the winter rainfalls. In dry years, spring
outflow may make up as much as 70% of the flow of the upper
Jordan. Table 2.5 summarizes the mean annual discharges of the
three rivers.

Table 2.5 Annual discharge of the
headwater rivers of the upper Jordan

River

Riparian
states

Flow
(million m³)

Mean

Range

Dan

Israel

245

173-285

Hasbani

Lebanon

138

52-236

Banias

Syria/Israel

121

63-190

TOTAL

504

298 - 711

Source: Naff and Matson 1984.

Table 2.6 Water budget of the Huleh
valley

Million
m³

Inflow into
valley

504

Plus local
run-off from Huleh to Jisr Banat Yaqub

140

Minus
irrigation in valley

-100

Outflow into
Lake Tiberins

544

Source: Naff and Matson 1984.

HULEH VALLEY. The flow of the upper Jordan
enters the Huleh valley (formerly Lake Huleh), where it is
augmented by the flow of sub-lacustrine springs. Among the minor
springs and seasonal watercourses contributing the flow of the
upper Jordan, the most important is the Wadi Bareighhit. The
water budget of the Huleh valley is shown in table 2.6.

LAKE TIBERIAS. Beyond the Huleh valley, the
north fork of the Jordan falls 200 m to Lake Tiberias (the Sea of
Galilee), which lies 210 m below sea level. The upper Jordan
contributes an average of 660 million m³ per year to the lake,
or 40% of Israel's total identified renewable water resources. An
additional 130 million m³ per year enters the lake as winter
run-off from various wadis and in the form of discharge from
sublacustrine springs that contain high salinity. Table 2.7
summarizes the water budget of Lake Tiberias.

Lake Tiberias has a volume of 4 x 109
m³, which is 6.5 times the annual inflow from the upper Jordan
and 8 times the annual outflow. The water depth is 26 m on
average, with a maximum of 43 m. The surface area is 170 km²,
which loses about 270 million m³ of water per year by direct
evaporation. The salinity of the lake varies from a low of 260 mg
to a high of 400 mg of chlorine per litre; this variation depends
primarily on the flow of the upper Jordan, in which salinity does
not exceed 15-20 mg of chlorine per litre (Naff and Matson 1984).
About 500 million m³ leaves Lake Tiberias per year via its
outlet and flows south along the floor of the Dead Sea Rift for
about 10 km to the confluence with the Yarmouk River.

Table 2.7 Water budget of Lake Tiberias

Million
m³

Inflow into
lake

544

Plus rainfall
over lake

65

Plus local
run-off

70

Plus springs
in and around lake

65

Minus
evaporation from lake surface

-270

Outflow to
lower Jordan

474

Source: Naff and Matson 1984

2.5.3 The Yarmouk

The Yarmouk River originates on the
south-eastern slopes of Mount Hermon in a complex of wadis
developed in Quaternary volcanic rocks. The main trunk of the
Yarmouk forms the present boundary between Syria and Jordan for
40 km before it becomes the border between Jordan and Israel.
Where it enters the Jordan River 10 km below Lake Tiberias, the
Yarmouk contributes about 400 million m³ per year (Huang and
Banerjee 1984).

There is no flow contribution from the part of
the valley where Israel is a riparian. Of the 7,242 km² of the
Yarmouk basin, 1,424 km² lie within Jordan and 5,252 km² within
Syria. The flow of the Yarmouk is derived from winter
precipitation that averages 364 mm per year over the basin (Naff
and Matson 1984). The stream flow is supplemented by spring
discharges from highly permeable zones in the lavas; some further
spring discharges may be channelled to the surface on wadi floors
via solution pathways in the underlying limestones.

The mean annual flow discharge is 400 million
m³, which is 65% of the total discharge of 607 million m³ per
year from the Jordan's East Bank. The flow is largely influenced
by the rainfall pattern in the Mediterranean climate, indicating
a maximum monthly discharge of 101 million m³ in February and a
minimum of 19 million m³ in September (Huang and Banerjee 1984).

The salinity of the Yarmouk River is quite low,
being between 280 and 480 mg of total dissolved solids per litre.

EAST GHOR MAIN CANAL PROJECT. The Yarmouk's
mean annual discharge of 400 million m³ provides almost half of
the surface water resources of the Jordan River. After allowing
for some 17 million m³ per year for downstream users in
neighbouring countries, this water is diverted through the East
Ghor Main Canal, an irrigation canal running along the Jordan
River, to provide for agricultural water needs in the Jordan
valley (fig. 2.29). The upper phase of the canal was completed in
1964, and by 1979 it had reached a length of 100 km, which could
permit the irrigation of 22,000 ha (Beaumont 1988).

AL-WUHEDA (MAQARIN) STORAGE DAM SCHEME. The
Al-Wuheda dam, first conceived in 1956, would be built in the
northern part of Maqarin, about 20 km north of Irbid, to store
the waters of the Yarmouk River. The estimated stream flow at the
Maqarin gauging station is 273 million m³ per year on average,
which includes flood waters being discharged to waste. On the
basis of a bilateral riparian agreement between Syria and Jordan
in 1988, preliminary work for opening an 800-metre-long diversion
tunnel was completed by the end of 1989. The dam reservoir would
have a gross capacity of 225 million m³, with effective storage
of 195 million m³ annually. The water would irrigate an
additional 3,500 ha in the Jordan valley, and supply 50 million
m³ of water a year to the Greater Amman area and the eastern
heights. It would also generate an average of 18,800 MWh of
electricity a year. Syria would use part of the water and 75% of
the total hydroelectric power generated by a power station near
the dam. However, this project was stopped by Israeli opposition
over waterallocation problems.

2.5.4 The lower Jordan River and the Dead
Sea

South of its confluence with the Yarmouk, the
Jordan flows over late Tertiary rocks that partially fill the
Rift valley. For the first 40 km the river forms the
international boundary between Israel and Jordan; south of that
reach, it abuts the Israeli-occupied West Bank of the Jordan,
where it forms the present cease-fire line. The Jordan here flows
through the deepest portion of the Rift valley to enter the Dead
Sea at 401 m below sea level, the lowest point on earth.

Run-off from winter rainfall within the valley
is carried to the Jordan River via steep, intermittent tributary
wadis incised in the wall of the Jordan valley, primarily on the
East Bank. This source represents an additional 523 million m³
per year, of which only 20% originates in Israel; 286 million m³
is derived from perennial spring flow, while 237 million m³ is
provided by winter rainfall (Naff and Matson 1984). The main
tributaries on the East Bank, including the Zarqa River and Wadis
Arab, Ziqlab, Jurm, Ubis, Kafrain, Rajib, Shueib, and Hisban are
described in chapter 4.

The quality of the lower Jordan is influenced
both by rainfall patterns and by the amount of base flow
extracted upstream. Water salinity is about 350 mg of total
dissolved solids per hire in the rainy season, while it rises to
2,0004,000 mg per litre in the dry season at Allenby Bridge near
Jericho. Finally, the salinity of the system reaches 250,000 mg
of total dissolved solids per litre in the Dead Sea, a level
approximately seven times as high as that of the ocean. This
salinity level is too high to sustain life, but certain minerals
such as potash and bromines can be extracted by solar evaporative
processes.

The Dead Sea covers an area of over 1,000 km²
at a surface elevation of 400 m below mean sea level. It has two
basins, separated by the Lisan Straits, the northern basin with
an area of 230 km² and the southern basin with an area of 720
km². The catchment area is 40,000 km², including parts of
Israel, Jordan, and Syria. The shortest distance between the Dead
Sea and the Mediterranean Sea is 72 km (fig. 2.28).

The Dead Sea is a closed sea with no outlet
except by evaporation, which is very high, amounting to 1,600 mm
per year. In the past, the evaporation losses were replenished by
an inflow of fresh water from the Jordan River and its
tributaries, as well as other sources such as wadi floods,
springs, and rainfall. The mean volume of water flowing into the
sea before 1930 was about 1.6 x 109 m³ per year, of
which 1.1 x 109 m³ were carried by the Jordan (Weiner
and Ben-Zvi 1982). Under these conditions, the sea had reached an
equilibrium level at a height around 393 m below sea level, with
some seasonal and annual fluctuation due to variations in the
amount of rainfall. However, since the early 1950s, Israel and
later Jordan have taken steps to utilize the fresh water flowing
into the Dead Sea for intensified irrigation and other purposes,
which has reduced the amount of water entering the sea by 1 x 109
m³ per year. Consequently, the water level has declined in
recent years to 403 m below sea level today, almost 10 m lower
than its historical equilibrium level. The surface area of the
Dead Sea and the volume evaporated from the surface vary only by
a few percentage points between elevations from -402 to -390 m,
while the water levels fluctuate considerably.

2.5.5 Water allocation problems and
international riparian agreements

In 1953 the four countries Lebanon, Syria,
Israel, and Jordan agreed in principle on the priority use of
Jordan River waters, in the so-called Johnston Agreement, which
provided for priority use of the main stem of the Jordan River by
Israel and Lebanon, while the biggest tributary, the Yarmouk.
running along the national boundary, was to be exclusively used
by Syria and Jordan. This established a water allocation of the
usable Jordan River estimated at 1.38 x 109 m³ per
year in total: 52% (720 million m³) to Jordan, 32% (440 million
m³) to Israel, 13% (180 million m³) to Syria, and 3% (40
million m³) to Lebanon (Naff and Matson 1984). It is widely
assumed that the technical experts of each country involved in
this discussion agreed on the details of this plan, although soon
afterwards the governments rejected it for political reasons.

With the failure of these negotiations, both
Israel and Jordan decided to proceed with water projects situated
entirely within their own boundaries. As a result, Israel began
work in 1958 on the National Water Carrier, which is currently
abstracting 90% or more of the flow from the upper Jordan River
through their intake in the north-west of Lake Tiberias.

Syria continued implementation of
small-to-medium size dam development schemes for the upper
Yarmouk. These plans could lead to increased salinity levels in
the lower Yarmouk and lower Jordan Rivers, lower water levels in
the Dead Sea, and reduced irrigation water for Jordan's East Ghor
development project. From a strategic point of view, this
long-term Syrian effort could reduce Jordanian access to the
Yarmouk, on which Jordan relies to irrigate the Jordan valley,
and may affect downstream availabilities for Israel. Ultimately,
the possibility of heightened tension or even armed conflict
among the riparians might increase (Starr and Stoll 1987).

The 1988 protocol of understanding between
Jordan and Syria paving the way to renewing work on the Al-Wubeda
dam project as part of a multinational master plan for
development of the water resources of the region is described in
chapters 4 and 5.